On March 7 was held the sixth meeting of the ICAO Council in Montreal. It was the last meeting of the "Safety Week". The Council considered a number of documents. Before the beginning of the meeting the Permanent Representative of Australia to the Council Ms. Kerryn Macaulay delivered a speech on the occasion of International Women's Day, in which their contributions have made all five female Representatives in the Council - (Australia, Nicaragua, Poland, Portuguese and United Arab Emirates). In her speech, recalled the first woman to sit in the ICAO Council in years 1971-1977, representing the USA - Ms. Betty Crites Dillon. Ms. Dillon was a licensed pilot and a veteran of the Peace Corps. During the current ICAO triennium there is the largest cohort of women serving on the Council in history. The speech highlighted the increasingly important role of women in aviation and the need to support young female professionals in the field of aviation and provide support in their carriers. The female Representatives in the Council provided each of the Council members and each of the females present in this room and in the interpretation booths, with a simple flower. After this symbolic gesture the Council began deliberations.
Members of the Council considered the request of the Aviation Working Group (AWG) for inclusion on a list of international organizations which can participate in ICAO meetings as observers. No objections were raised for the request, and it was decided that the Council should always be informed of the intention to participate in the meeting and the decision on participation will be taken on the case basis. Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation presented a document on changes in the policy of ICAO. Polish Permanent Representative to the Council - Dr. Małgorzata Polkowska supported the document and pointed to the need to verify if all the activities of the Organization continues to be carried out in accordance with the provisions of the Convention on International Civil Aviation. She stressed that it is the role of the Council to increase the efficiency of work of the Organization and considered that the submitted document can serve as a tool for the necessary changes. Vice-Chairman of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country (RHCC) gave an oral report on the work of the committee. There was also presented the annual report of Ethics Officer and Chairman of the of Human Resources Committee presented a report on its activities.
Permanent Representative of China to the Council presented a proposal for the creation of the "Friends of the Council" group which would consist of former Presidents of the Council, the Secretaries General and former Representatives on the Council. The Council members have not raised the objections to the creation of such a group, but also discussed the function they would serve.
There were presented a document on regional groups for Equitable Geographical Representation in the ICAO. The document was prepared in the context of listing of Turkey in the region of the Middle East (MID). The Council requested the Secretariat to provide additional information for review. This paper presents historical information on the regional groupings used by ICAO for EGR purposes and provides an overview of the practice of the United Nations system organizations in this regard.The document states There is no common practice regarding EGR in the organizations of the UN common system. The current practice at ICAO with regard to grouping of States for recruitment and geographical representation purposes, by decision of the Council, is based on the practice at the UN. The UN has not reported on EGR by Region since 1998, at which time Turkey was still included in the MID Region. The Representative of Turkey who participated in the meeting as an observer expressed the will of Turkey to start in the elections to the ICAO Council in 2016.